Marseille Museum President Accused of Sexual Misconduct, Putting Institution ‘At Risk’: Report

A scathing report by French government investigators accuses Pierre-Olivier Costa, the recently suspended president of Marseille’s Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (MuCEM), of sexual and moral harassment, breaching rules for granting public contracts, and putting the southern French city’s only national museum “at risk,” according to a Le Monde investigation.

A front-page scoop published Friday evening in France also reveals that Marseille’s public prosecutor has expanded an ongoing criminal investigation into Costa’s time as president of Marseille’s top museum, notably amid allegations that he unlawfully used preferential treatment to award contracts and hire at the public institution. The museum’s managing director, Véronique Haché, is also named in the report for related, alleged misconduct.  

The much-anticipated investigation “identifies numerous breaches by the management — the president and the managing director —  of their ethical obligations, including remarks of a sexual, sexist, or degrading nature, inappropriate behavior by the president, intrusions into private life, suspicions of favoritism in hiring and salary policies, and disloyalty to the supervising authority [the Ministry of Culture],” states the report by the government-operated l’inspection générale des affaires culturelles (IGAC) [General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs]. “Beyond the sense of distress, it is the institution itself that is now at risk,” it added.

In late June, Costa and Haché were both suspended from their roles for a period of four months, following the IGAC’s then-undisclosed report into allegations of workplace and sexual harassment. That news surprised many who knew Costa was close to France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, for whom he served as chief of staff before taking the Mucem leadership role in 2022. Costa is also a former advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron.

However, earlier signs of problems included a staff protest in June 2024 and an open letter signed by 79 Mucem staffers decrying a toxic workplace, including “rising pressure and threats.”

The IGAC report states that in addition to one former Mucem worker who filed a formal complaint for sexual and moral harassment by Costa, government auditors discovered a second, allegedly similar case during their investigation.

According to the IGAC, the first unnamed former museum worker said Costa repeatedly made explicit propositions to him on the evening of August 8, 2025. Other employees said they witnessed Costa’s “inappropriate behavior” toward the same worker. The second, former Mucem employee, said they experienced something similar, stating: Costa “made sexual propositions to me, like oral sex, it happened a thousand times … I pushed him away by making jokes about it.”

Costa has denied all wrongdoing. “I don’t speak to people in that manner,” he told government investigators. In April, he also told Le Monde he had “full confidence” in the ongoing judicial investigation by Marseille’s judicial system. “I want transparency and for everything to be brought to light … These are extremely serious accusations, and I dispute them.”

Lastly, according to the report, Costa breached fair competition regulations by granting several contracts to individuals and/or companies while also spending well beyond budgeted limits on at least two occasions. These include, but are not limited to, contracts granted at inflated costs to Bastien Baudoin, the head of the consultancy firm Tyrex Conseil, and the company Ludoparc, for the building of a children’s playground. These represent “risks of conflict of interest or criminal offenses,” according to the IGAC report.

In their explanation, the report describes “a president regarded as untouchable as he is incompetent, and an inner circle that is likewise not very competent and failing in its role as a safeguard.”

Lastly, IGAC investigators recommended launching disciplinary proceedings against Costa and the general manager, Haché.